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Force of Nature: Picturing Ruskin’s Landscape

Our planet, in all its contrasting power and fragility, has been a constant source of inspiration and wonder for artists. This brand new exhibition, curated by Museums Sheffield, takes on the huge theme of landscape, as reflected in the thoughts and opinions of John Ruskin.

The depiction of the landscape in art proved a lifelong obsession for John Ruskin (1819-1900). While his belief that artists should reflect and record their environment was unwavering, Ruskin’s view on how to best capture the ‘truth’ of a vista or scene was to go through a radical shift in later life. Force of Nature brings together a host of historical and contemporary work, using the evolution of Ruskin’s ideas as a means of looking at artists’ different approaches to portraying the landscape.

'A beautiful exhibition. It felt like a celebration of all that is good about Sheffield'. Visitor Comment

Drawn mainly from Sheffield’s own Ruskin and art collections, the exhibition includes paintings by Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites, work by Edward Lear, John Constable and Elizabeth Blackadder, alongside contemporary artists such as Dan Holdsworth, Julian Opie and George Shaw.

Funded by the Guild of St George, an organisation founded by Ruskin in 1871 with the broad aim of making the world a better place for humankind.

See below for an introduction to the exhibition from Ruskin expert Jacqueline Yallop: